AGUIRRE, PEDRO DE

John G. Johnson

AGUIRRE, PEDRO DE (1678–?). Pedro de Aguirre, soldier, was born in Aranaz, Navarra, Spain, on April 24, 1678, the son of Pedro and María (Sagardia) de Aguirre; the family line can be traced back to the year 1200. Aguirre, a captain in the Spanish army and commander of Presidio del Río Grande del Norte, was ordered by a special council held August 7, 1708, to escort fathers Antonio de San Buenaventura y Olivares and Isidro Félix de Espinosaqqv to what is now the Colorado River to meet the Tejas Indians and their allies. The Spanish, who believed that the French were illegally trading in Texas (seeSPANISH TEXAS), planned to use the Indians to keep watch on the French. The expedition left San Juan Bautista on April 5, 1709, and reached the Colorado on April 19. Upon reaching their destination, they learned that they were still three days' travel from the land of the Tejas Indians, whereupon they turned back, since Aguirre did not have orders to proceed farther. The expedition returned to San Juan Bautista on April 28. During the trip they arrived at the site of what is now San Antonio, on April 13, 1709, and named the nearby springs San Pedro Springs, and the river San Antonio de Padua.

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